UFC set to make Scottish debut in early 2011 as talks launched with Braehead over Fight Night date

EXCLUSIVE: THE Ultimate Fighting Championship looks set to stage its first ever Scottish fight card before Easter next year.

THE Ultimate Fighting Championship looks set to stage its first ever Scottish fight card before Easter next year after the group's UK head confirmed talks were underway to bring the cage fighting league to Glasgow.

UFC's UK president Marshall Zelaznik confirmed the Las Vegas-based MMA group have already planned a provisional date for a fight at the Braehead Arena next year.

"We're looking at Braehead in the first quarter of next year," Zelaznik told DailyRecord.co.uk.

The proposed fight card, which UFC hope to confirm before their fan expo in London in October, will form one of a series of new Fight Night shows planned for the UK in 2011.

Already a hit in the US, the midweek cards are seen by UFC chiefs as a way of taking the sport to smaller cities and arenas than London and Manchester.

The company had previously admitted the smaller size of Braehead meant staging a full UFC pay-per-view event - which can draw 20,000 crowds - in Scotland would be difficult.

But Zelaznik promised fans they would no be short-changed by a Fight Night card coming to Glasgow, even if it lacked the depth of big-name US fighters that the company's pay-per-view events would bring.

"You might see more of the international names on the event, but it will still be a UFC event," he vowed.

"We're still name-building in the UK, so if we bring a UFC event to Braehead, we're not doing it for fun. There might be a loss for us in ticket sale because of a smaller building, but we're building the brand."

And Zelaznik threw a lifeline to the nation's budding cage fighting stars - by admitting they could still be involved in the show, which will air on TV around the world.

UFC's only Scottish connection at present is Canadian-born, Scots descended youngster Rory Macdonald. But the UFC boss said the group would look at potential fighters if the Braehead fight is confirmed.

"Contracted fighters are who we would turn to first," he said. "But what happens when you announce these events is managers and fighters get in touch.

"We pass names to Joe (Silva, UFC matchmaker) to have a look at, and if he doesn't know them, he starts finding out."

Zelaznik currently has one eye on a busy calendar for European fight fans at the end of this year, with the fight league making its return to Britain in October - after more than a year away - and a card in Germany before Christmas also due to be confirmed.

Tickets for UFC 120 - at the O2 in October - have already proved popular, with around 75% of briefs being sold within the first weekend for a card headlined by British stars Dan Hardy, Michael Bisping and Jon Hathaway.